One dream and a farm loan turned barren land into one man’s garden of Eden.
Five years ago Byeong Ho Son and his wife Kum Ok searched and prayed before purchasing 140 acres of land in Chillicothe, Ill. A Presbyterian minister in Long Grove, Ill., Son had a vision to create a place he would call Eden Farm where he could grow and sell Shingo pears and other vegetables.
He didn’t know he would become the owner of the first Shingo pear farm in Illinois, which now draws thousands of people each year, simply by word of mouth.
“Every year we are growing,” said Kum Ok. “It’s very interesting. People just keep coming.
Shingo pears are a golden-yellow Asian fruit that looks similar to an apple. Unlike American pears, which ripen after they are picked, Shingo pears ripen on the tree in the fall. They last several months in the refrigerator after they are picked and are resistant to fire blight, a bacterial disease that attacks pear trees.
According to Son, these Asian pears are better than those imported from Korea. “The ones from Korea are not fresh when they get to the U.S.,” said Son. “They have chemicals and other things to preserve them. Ours are fresh, tasty and healthy.”
The Son’s worked with a realtor to secure a piece of land on a hillside with good drainage that would be great for growing the pears. They found it in Chllicothe. After having the soil tested to make sure the pears would grow, they applied for a $60,000 direct operating loan from the USDA Farm Service Agency and used $300,000 of their own money to purchase Eden Farm.
The startup loan allowed the Son’s to plant 2,000 pear trees, which were nurtured until the first crop of fruits were ripe. Today, a bag of 15 pears costs $20.
Their dream now a reality, the Son’s hope to use the proceeds from their pear sales to create an international retreat center for people of all religious denominations.
